Emissions from fossil fuel and cement producers are making heat waves more likely and more intense, according to a new study.
Published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the study states that 180 fossil fuel and cement producers were responsible for nearly 60 per cent of humanity’s total carbon emissions between 1850 and 2023. Known as “carbon majors,” the study says these entities have contributed substantially to global warming and heat waves, which includes eight companies headquartered in Canada.
“It has been proven unambiguously that anthropogenic activities are largely responsible for climate change, and that combustion of fossil fuels is the main contributor,” the study explained. “These results show that the emissions of carbon major contributed to about half of the increase in intensity of heat waves since preindustrial times, and that this contribution is rising.”
In the study, researchers from Europe and the U.S. looked at 213 heat waves that occurred between 2000 and 2023, including a 2018 heat wave in Quebec and a 2021 heat wave in British Columbia. They also analyzed emissions from the 180 largest producers of fossil fuels and cement in the world to calculate how they have contributed to changes in the global average temperature. They concluded that carbon majors are linked to more than half of the 1.3 C increase in the global mean temperature since pre-industrial times.
Lead author Yann Quilcaille is a climate scientist at ETH Zurich, a public university in Switzerland. He told CTVNews.ca that climate change made the more than 200 heat waves in the 21st century “more intense,” and that its “influence is growing.”
“In particular, 55 heat waves were virtually impossible without climate change, and even the contribution of a single carbon major is sufficient to have this event becoming possible,” he said.
Several Canadian companies among largest emitters
The 14 largest carbon emitters were led by fossil fuel and coal producers from the former Soviet Union and China, followed by oil companies Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil. Together, they made the same contribution to climate change as the remaining 166 entities, according to the study.
The eight Canadian companies were ranked between 70 and 163 on the list of 180 carbon majors, according to Quilcaille, but still contributed to climate change and heatwaves. Those companies are ARC Resources, Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, Obsidian Energy, Ovintiv, Suncor Energy, Teck Resources and Tourmaline Oil.
Quilcaille says their emissions represent a 0.01-C increase of global warming since pre-industrial times.
“It may not seem like a lot, but adding all these relatively small contributions is sufficient to disrupt the climate,” Quilcaille told CTVNews.ca. “For instance, each one of these Canadian carbon majors have a sufficient individual contribution to climate change to make possible 35 and 50 heatwaves that would have been virtually impossible without climate change.”
Teck Resources responded to CTVNews.ca’s request for comment, saying it no longer has any interests in oil sands.
“Teck is a pure play critical minerals company focused on copper and zinc,” the company said in an emailed response.
None of the other Canadian companies listed in this article immediately responded to requests for comment.
Friederike Otto, a climate science professor at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, described the research as “an important step towards accountability.”
“Another summer of deadly heat waves in Europe and extreme wildfires shows just how dangerous climate change already is,” Otto, who was not involved in the study, said in a written statement.
“The study has focused on heat waves, many of which remain unreported,” Otto added. “As a result, the study’s findings likely underestimate the true scale of these events, and the real consequences are probably far greater.”
Quilcaille says the study could have legal implications for the largest emitters as climate change continues to contribute to heat-related deaths, crop failures and more.
“While the 14 largest carbon majors have contributed the most to the occurrence of heat waves, the contributions of smaller players also play a significant role,” Quilcaille added in a news release. “Even though every one of us – whether as individuals, countries, or companies – contributes to climate change, some actors have additional responsibilities.”
